1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention is directed to skid-steer vehicles, and in particular, it is directed to a skid-steer vehicle having a side entry to the driver's compartment.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Skid steer-type vehicles with pivotal loading arms that are hydraulically actuated have been known for quite some time and have been quite commercially successful. The following prior art patents describe various skid-steer vehicles.
______________________________________ Inventor U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ Blakely 3,722,724 Leverenz 3,767,075 Kuhn 3,794,191 Hulburt 3,995,761 Melroe et al 3,231,117 Keller et al Des. 195,254 Cochran et al 4,405,280 ______________________________________
The above-mentioned prior art patents describe skid-steer vehicles which are entered by the operator at the front of the vehicle, either over the bucket when the bucket is lowered or underneath the bucket when the bucket is in a raised position. Both are potentially dangerous situations. Entry over the arms that raise the bucket is also hazardous and difficult.
The Drott et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,482,612 and the Warner U.S. Pat. No. 2,821,313 show crawler-type vehicles with loader arms that are moved by rearwardly disposed hydraulic cylinders. The crawler vehicles have driver compartments which are entered from the rear having to cross over the back of the seat.
Other patents such as the West U.S. Pat. No. 3,288,316, the Ulinski U.S. Pat. No. 2,980,271, and the Keller et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,151,503 describe other types of loading vehicles having pivotally mounted loading arms that are moved by hydraulic cylinders. However, none of the vehicles described in the immediately above-mentioned patents provide an unobstructed safe side entry access to the driver's compartment.